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> Jews & The Messiah, A Proof Text
semi
post Aug 10 2007, 08:48 AM
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This question is frequently asked, “If Jesus is really the Promised Messiah, why don’t the Jews believe in Him?”

The short and simple answer to this is that some do and some don’t - just like we Gentiles; either we believe or we don’t.

Part of the problem is that non-Jews tend to think of Jews as being all of one faith. They are not – they are divided into sects just like Christians, except we call ours: “Denominations”.

There are those Jews who are looking for just one Messiah, who will come at the end of this age and make war with the nations, over-throw them, and rule over them with a rod of iron. He will then be Israel’s King forever-more in the style of David. They thus reject any notion that the Messiah has already come. This Messiah is called the “Conquering Messiah” or the “Kingly Messiah” – sometimes just “King Messiah”.

Then there are those Jews who believe that there are two Messiahs coming at two separate times. The first to come is the “Suffering Messiah” or “Suffering Servant” and the last to come is the “Kingly Messiah”. This group does not accept that Jesus is either one of these, due to their (stretched) reading of Isaiah Chapter 53 - which describes the “Suffering Servant”. This “Suffering Servant” they interpret to be the whole nation of Israel who have and is fulfilling that role. Thus this latter group like the first group; is awaiting the coming of just the “Kingly Messiah”.

Also, it is a regimen (Sabbath by Sabbath) that the Jews read through the Holy Scriptures annually; but when they come to Isaiah Chapter 53, they skip over it. This is to avoid raising any controversy in the Synagogue that Jesus/Yeshua might be that “Suffering Servant”.

But there is another group of Jews who concede that just maybe Jesus was indeed the “Suffering Servant/Messiah”, and they study the New Testament for its consistency with respect to the Jewish scriptures, but they do not accept the New Testament in their canon. Thus, they too - allowing that Jesus/Yeshua could well have been the “Suffering Messiah” await the coming of another, that latter being the “Conquering/Kingly Messiah”.

Lastly, there is yet another group of Jews who believe that Jesus is both the “Suffering Servant/Messiah” and the “Conquering/Kingly Messiah” and they have accepted Jesus as Lord and have received Salvation. They basically fall into two groups: those who have discarded all semblance of being Jews and have joined other non-Jews in Christian fellowship - and there are those who retain the traditional Jewish attire and practices such as talits (“prayer shawls”) and the yamukah (“scull cap“ or “beanie”). This latter group is usually known as “Messianic Jews”.

The Jews who have accepted Jesus are not to whom this topic is in particular addressed, but it is intended to be edifying to all Christians by proving Scripturally that those Jews who reject Jesus are in error as can be demonstrated by using their own Scriptures.

Please turn to the very first Book of that portion of the Bible which is called the Pentateuch (5 Books) i.e. the Five Books of Moses, and is part of the Jews’ own “Torah” i.e. “the Law” - of which the first of these the Greeks have called; “Genesis” – Chapter 35, Verses 16 thru 22.

In this account, Jacob (Israel) is traveling south through Canaan from Shiloh to find winter pasture for his flocks, and with him is Rachael who is about to give birth to their second child. As they are on the road outside Bethlehem (meaning “House of Bread/Life”), she goes into labor and under a tree there she gives birth to a boy.

The labor is terribly difficult and Rachael knows she will not survive it. This and all the grief she has suffered as a result of her father’s trickery with regard to the humiliating circumstances in which Laban substituted her sister Leah as Jacob’s wife instead of her, and her sister having given birth to far more children than Rachael; all no doubt come to mind when she named her son “Ben-Oni”, meaning “Son of My Sorrows”.

This serves as the springboard for Jeremiah 31.15 and Matthew 2.18 which in part reads, “Rachael crying for her children and refusing to be consoled for they are no more”.

After Rachael was dead, Jacob re-named the boy “Ben-Yamin”(Benjamin), meaning “Son of My Right Hand”. That figure of speech can be seen elsewhere in Scripture as signifying ‘great strength” - as when God said, “…by My strong Right Arm…” And again, it is echoed when speaking of Jesus being seated on the “Right Hand” of the Father.

It is no stretch whatsoever to see that the name “Son of My Sorrows” symbolizes the “Suffering Servant/Messiah” of Isaiah Chapter 53.

It is no stretch whatsoever to see that the name “Son of My Right Hand” symbolizes the “Conquering/Kingly Messiah”.

But it’s very important to see here that BOTH are the VERY SAME PERSON.

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Let's take this another step further:

Joseph and Mary entered Bethlehem only to find that there was no place for them at the inn. So they were obliged to spend that night in a stable.

Consider this: where did people normally place their smelly stables? Not usually inside the town, but outside the town, maybe even a short walk from the nearest houses.

What do you think the chances are that many years later, Jesus was born on that VERY SAME SPOT (where Rachael gave birth to Benoni/Benjamin and then died)?
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